Emergency Planning Gets Stronger

Fire department first responders now expect high-rise buildings to have a complete emergency preparedness plan and well as security, building management and tenants familiar with it.

Technology and security services both play essential roles in handling high-rise emergencies. Training also can positively impact the business of the building. For example, at the Comcast Center, security officers have been trained in customer response as well as security and emergencies.

Driven partly by homeland security concerns, high-rise building owners and their security leaders in many cities now are working under stiffer ordinances and codes covering emergency preparedness. The new rules that cover residential and nonresidential high-rise buildings and different sizes of buildings in slightly different ways also mandate certification of the building’s plan by a city’s fire department or authority with jurisdiction.

In Chicago, for example, the ordinance makes clear that the plan must contain a description of the actions all occupants should take in an emergency evacuation or drill during the regular business hours of the building and during nonregular business hours of the building. Each plan shall set out a procedure for an evacuation of five floors below and two floors above any emergency resulting from a fire on a certain floor, and sets out a procedure for a full evacuation of the building.

While the New York City World Trade Center terrorist tragedy comes to mind when thinking of emergency preparedness, in Chicago, the ordinance push came after a 2003 fire in a high-rise government building. Some people in that incident frantically dialed 9-1-1 for help in escaping the smoke-filled staircases and hallways. The fire killed six and injured 10.

Now, with a certified plan in effect, there are details of the evacuation role and duties of designated security and life safety personnel and the in-house and wireless telephone and pager numbers for those people.

DESIGNATED PERSONNEL

The Fire Safety Director (FSD) must be an employee of the building. The FSD is the person who obtains and maintains an emergency preparedness certificate, and handles inspections by the city’s department of buildings, office of emergency communications, the fire department and the department of police.

The emergency preparedness plan must designate one or more deputy FSDs to serve in the absence of the FSD. Each Deputy FSD must be an employee of the building.

The building must have a Building Evacuation Supervisor. In a residential high-rise building, the supervisor may be a resident of that building. In a non-residential building, the supervisor must be an employee of the building.

There must be a number of fire wardens from the buildings employees and tenants. And many city plans now call for the establishment of an emergency evacuation team.

TECH IMPACTS, TOO

Technology plays a role in emergency preparedness.

Delayed egress door controls on in-and-out of the building doors meet both security needs as well as life safety requirements. Voice over the fire system is now more typical and allows security and building management to give different floors different messages if needed. Newer mass notification systems can get emergency notices out to tenants via e-mail, cellular telephone, text messaging and even through computer and television systems.

In several U.S. cities, partnerships of law enforcement, city governments, building owners and security leaders are bringing together their various public and private security video systems. It may be allowing first responders to “tap” into a high-rise’s video monitoring to determine the elements of an emergency.

Chicago, for one, has a more encompassing plan.

The city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communication said that about 20 private companies have agreed to connect their cameras into the extensive city camera network. The initial growth of the camera network was spurred by a Department of Homeland Security grant in an effort to extend cameras and monitoring beyond street crime and into a regional approach.

Security officers also play a role which can be multilayered as a business benefit. For example, the property owners of Philadelphia’s Comcast Center employ and train ambassadors who handle tenant and visitor needs as well as provide security and emergency response.

SECURITY MEASURES MEET NEEDS, BUDGETS

Beyond emergency preparedness, which is often driven by city ordinances and codes, BOMA International, the trade group that covers building owners and managers, has suggested security measures.

They suggest that high-rise property management:

Maintain situational awareness of world events and ongoing threats.

Ensure all levels of personnel are notified via briefings, e-mail, voicemail and signage of any changes in threat conditions and protective measures.

Encourage personnel to be alert and immediately report any situation that may constitute a threat or suspicious activity.

Encourage personnel to avoid routines, vary times and routes, pre-plan, and keep a low profile, especially during periods of high threat.

Encourage personnel to take notice and report suspicious packages, devices, unattended briefcases, or other unusual materials immediately; inform them not to handle or attempt to remove any such object.

Take any threatening or malicious telephone call, FAX, or bomb threat seriously. If such a call is received, obtain and record as much information as possible to assist in identification of the caller. Record the time of the call, the exact words, any distinguishing features of the caller, and any background noise. Develop bomb threat information forms to assist if not already in place.

Initiate a system to enhance mail and package screening procedures (both announced and unannounced).

Install special locking devices on manhole covers in and around facilities.

Lighting and security cameras must work together. Lighting by itself is a crime fighter. There needs to be a balance between cutting down lighting to save money and using lighting for security and life safety.

SIDEBAR: Going Green Can Impact Security

In striving for less energy use, many buildings now emphasize cost-savings measures including lighting. Security leaders, at the same time, need to take care. Good lighting is a major crime fighter in and around buildings and in parking lots and garages, and security video may need such lighting for better images.

Here are some lighting tips to save money.

Retrofit with energy efficient lamps.

Lower wattage of lamps where possible, or reduce the number of lamps where possible.

SIDEBAR: What About the Property’s Perimeter?

Like an onion, the outer layers are the first levels of protection. A variety of technologies and approaches are available. There are pole-mounted covert outdoor DVRs and wireless DVR remote video surveillance systems that can be employed around a facility campus without the need for extensive installation cost. From Smarter Security, for example, a unit is contained in a weather-resistant housing that can withstand hot and cold temperatures in outdoor applications. The DVR has a cellular option to allow wireless remote connectivity to live and recorded video.

There are solutions for vehicle security, too. While some security leaders at dense properties use labor-intensive vehicle inspections, there are systems which also identify already approved vehicles. For example, for properties with a terrorist concerns, Transit Atex from Nedap is especially suited for vehicle identification applications in harsh environments, which require explosion protected equipment and where security and reliability are essential requirements.

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